I automatically think of abuse and it flags my brain to analyze. I don't accuse but I do ask what happened or make a comment on the bruise and go from there. I'm a nurse and a klutz ......I've been physically beat by patients and know first hand what punch bruises generally look like, grab marks, and kicks. I've also bent over too fast to pick up something and hit my head on the counter top and an open drawer - forehead and once on the back of my head when standing back up (yep done that in two different events), turned too fast and busted the side of my face on the door, way too many doorknob bruises on hips and arms and let's not even talk about shins My son's girlfriend bruises way too easy. Let just say young things in love at college and the freedom that gives two energetic, physically fit gym buffs. TMI that I really didn't want to know about my son's sex life but.....I didn't feel like I should keep quiet about obvious grab bruises either. And he's better for knowing that he needed to be more careful and she's better for knowing that yea your mom isn't going to turn a blind eye just because you are the son and she's not going to tolerate abuse. I didn't approach her but my son relayed the conversation to her and she made a couple of comments that reflected to me that she knew about the conversation and backed up the story in a round about way. And suddenly, FB friends requests appeared from her parents to both of us. And a post from one with simply a wink and thumbs up on their page. I assume that was meant for me by the timing. So, yea I go there in a non judgey kind of way..... Let me edit this to say.. I didn't think my son had abused her. but there were obvious, no other way to explain markings on his girl's upper arms beyond a human grabbed her. She could have been mugged or worse on campus but maybe not.....how would I know? We do the best we can do in raising these kids but we will never really and truly know just how well our lessons took when they are adults and behind their own locked doors. Do they revert back into that screaming kicking 2 year old tantrum or did our training on how to probably handle yourself around others stick?

I lowered mine just by cutting all forms of sugar and all high carb veggies. I eat dark colored fruits and veggies which rules out potatoes and corn. Plus, I am gluten free, no bread/pasta at all, and stopped drinking diet sodas. I checked my blood levels every morning and 2 hours after every meal and was able to rule out some additional foods that seemed to spike my blood level. Diet soda and potatoes in particular spike. Basically, my diet is nothing processed, whole foods only. But the big key is finding out what food your body considers to be sugar and eliminating it. It took about a month of tracking food and levels to figure out what spikes my levels.

I see this when they come into the hospital due to a fall, small bowel issue or other major health issue. Family then usually spills the beans about how they live alone, family is out of state, can't take care of them, etc. We hear some awful reports from family cause there isn't much the family can do if the patient has been alert and mentally capable. Their stay in the hospital has left them either in need of family care or short term rehab and they can't be discharged on their own. So, if family can't make arrangements and honestly most can't due to working themselves or their own health, social work gets involved, has the "conversation" and sets up the short term rehab or nursing home arrangements. That's how I usually see that independent group give up their independence.

Dear MIL Thanks for moving to a state 5 1/2 hours away which translates to 7 hours with our gang resulting in the inability of us to coordinate 2 very different work schedules in addition to your travel schedule to arrange a visit. Thanks for traveling through our town to go on a 10 day cruise a month ago (port was 12 hours away from their home) and refusing to come by to see us, despite the proximity of our house to the interstate you were traveling on, and instead insisting we meet you at a restaurant and then bitching over the cost as gluten free restaurants for a family of 6 isn't as cheap as Wendy's. We really appreciate the fact that you, less than a month after the cruise, are too weak to come visit us during the holidays (either of them) which means you also missed two birthdays and a recital in which all the kids are in. And scared that we might be sick at Christmas and contaminate you and make you sick. So, you wouldn't come visit us at all during one of the biggest and most packed months we have involving the kids. BUT, you did attend your great niece and nephew's yearly church play 4 hours away from your house and sit in a large, packed church during Dec/flu season/stomach bug (all the kids in the play and the adults at church were fighting upper respiratory or gi bugs) because they would be disappointed not to see you there and you couldn't disappoint them. Please stop texting me and your son to complain that our older kids do not return your phone calls or texts or emails. I know you want to keep in contact but seeing your smiling face with other children at their church event on FB when you have never attended a recital or play of their's and refused to visit for any birthdays this year or holidays does not lend them to taking time to call you. And please let it go that your son refuses to acknowledge any and all of his step siblings by your new husband. The man is 70 something years old. His youngest child is 60 something. Your 45 year old son is just not going to make it all one big happy family. Sorry you are butt hurt over it, but get over it. He's not going to change his mind.

we leave ours up. I run the pump a couple of hours every few days just to circulate the water and run the salt water machine around. If we have any freezing weather (rare but a couple of months may dip into the freezing weather), I will run the pump every day or else I have to drain the pump/filter to keep it from freezing up. I'm farther south than you so our winters are mild and don't make draining the whole pool and then refilling it up in the spring worth it. I can keep the chemistry good throughout the winter and then just a good shock in the spring and we are ready to go.

Before Epipen, doctors routinely taught parents and children to draw up epi and inject themselves. I was 7 and had to inject myself. At the age of 9, a kid on the playground did it for me. It most certainly can be and was routinely done before EpiPEn. Again, most people would preload a syringe and then carry that around for roughly 6 months before it goes bad. Doctors used to train their patients to care for themselves. Every visit to every doctor, they had me and my mom show them how to draw up epi and inject it. When i was little, they would act out scenarios as if I was having a reaction to better prepare me for the possibility. I can remember drawing up a vial and the nurse shaking my arms from behind to simulate a reaction. Kids can do it unless unconscious. My mom made sure every adult I was with knew how as well.

I would find a new one or ask your family doctor. What do they think we did before Epipen? Pulled it out of vial and injected ourselves. I preload one syringe (or 3 in this case as the vial holds three doses) but still......... that's a CYA response.

When you live in a hurricane prone area and deal with over excited media (Really Our state shut down over a hurricane that wasn't even predicted to hit SC. Just because...... shut down our vacation over a hurricane that hit the outer banks and was predicted to hit the outer banks and was small, so I really don't take the media and gov at their word ....too many false alarms), you play it by ear. How big is the eye? How wide are the winds? what are the outer winds? Where is it predicted to hit? How close are you to the shore? You board up, sandbag, and watch. My family on the beach evacuate cause you can't outrun floods and wind. Family a few miles inland sit it out unless landfall is going to hit their area. Each one is judged based on the facts, not on a hysterical media and CYA gov process which in the past has left you open to looters. Empty out a neighborhood and then not have any damage, guaranteed to be looted before you can get back. Seen that one too many times. National guard does not keep out looters. Just those trying to get back to their homes. Hugo showed that. SO many homeowners not allowed back to the islands or ground zero but looters snuck in and picked over everything. Disgusting. Now cat 4 and 5, people do pay attention and take it a little more seriously...but again depends on size and wind speed and storm surge. but those that stay tend to be self reliant type of people and are hunkered down with an eye to how fast can we get out after the eye hits and start work fixing the damage.

I had my doc prescribe an 1mg ampule of Epi and bought a box of syringes. Grand cost - 4 vials of Epi - 11.04 and 100 syringes 24.00. OH and I bought a toothbrush holder for .97 to hold the syringe. :laugh:

Save the Legos (hotwheels, blocks, etc) that they played with a lot. My husband's favorite part of being a daddy was pulling out those toys and playing with his kids.

I bought one for my kitchen aid mixer. Love it. Mostly do zucchini noodles which even the youngest loves. Have done butter nut squash noodles. Probably use it every week

I watched it and really like the show. Since she still had on the moon necklace, I jumped to a death which lead to the adopted child's need to find his biological father. I wouldn't think she would still wear the necklace if they had a divorce. Do think there is a backstory between the two brothers. It is an interesting story.

I haven't dealt with that one but it is produced in the tips of the villi of the small intestine. My daughter was negative for Celiac solely because she did not have enough villi destroyed for the GI to call it Celiac. However, his advice was to continue gluten and biopsies until she tested positive for Celiac as the villi destruction would continue and eventually be Celiac. So the ped and I said that was strong enough to remove wheat and stay away from gluten. After all, we had a child that needed to grow . So, if he has enough damage to his villi to have a deficiency of sucrase, that would be consdiered stage 1 or 2. My daughter was at stage 2 due to lack of milk enzyme. I would not rule out Celiac but just consider him to be on a pathway to it, especially if his sister has it and he has antibodies for it. 20 is pretty freaking high. I pretty sure that is the old levels. That was 10 years ago and a year after we did our testing, new lab level suggestions were posted reducing that number to 10 if I recall correctly. Newer research suggest any antibodies is a positive now. The enzyme deficiency will correct itself once gluten is removed and the villi grow back. More info on the Marsh Scale https://celiac.org/celiac-disease/understanding-celiac-disease-2/diagnosing-celiac-disease/diagnosis/

im like this..... anxiety makes me feel that the wrongs of everyone is connected to me..... Hubby is silent, i"ve offended somehow. what did i do? how can i fix it? how horrible will the fallout be? any and all negativity is because i did something to cause it. I don't view it as self centered because the opposite doesn't happen. Everybody is happy, full of fun and having a good time........ anxiety doesn't allow me to even begin to think I was the cause of it. It only allows me to think if only I didn't screw up so much, I could make everyone feel this way. Perfectionist is also a part because I need to be perfect to make everything perfect and keep from feeling anxious. But then I am anxious about making mistakes....... i would say she is truly concerned that she is upsetting everyone and will worry about it even with assurances (after all, you really wouldn't tell me I was the cause, right? Much too polite to tell me I bothered you) it can be a relentless cycle

But that is scary.....what if you don't have an epi? What if you used your and need a second or third dose in the ambulance? My kid is there now in the state.....and what if he needs an epi? There is always that very first time when you don't know you need it. All those people are just put of luck if they think Emts can help. How depressing to think the pt will get bagged, airway and chest compressions until somebody finds some epi. When a single dose of epi could have prevented all of that. That is just unnerving......I'm not instate to muster a challenge either......

A question, since this topic is hot right now, For those of you in states that do not allow EMTs to have epi on board and to give it, why not bring attention to that and get the laws changed? Other states allow it. Surely there are enough parents in your state to gather at the state house, letter campaign, etc to get it looked into and try to make changes. Scary to me as I never would have realized other states would not have epi on board. I will have to check from this point forward when I travel. Never occurred to me before. It is a basic life saving drug. Why in the world would an ambulance or first responder not have it??????? I was SEVEN learning how to give myself epi..........Why can't trained responders???? It would be awesome if this Epipen issue could at least change that.

Hmm.... When it is busy super time for us, I make a menu plan in my quiet time (usually while waiting at the practice) I cook what I can during the day and then when we get home, I warm it up if needed and finish cooking. It isn't quick but it is faster than normal meals. I make the kids wait. I'm mean I know. They need baths so they hit the door, put their stuff up and get in the bath. I finish dinner. We can't eat out due to food issues so we have to do home cooked meals usually all from scratch with little to no already prepared food. So I have been forced to make home cooked meals work. It can be done. I just have to plan and organize and make it a priority every day like brushing teeth. To get a meal on the table in a hurry requires sometimes the night before prep, am prep, afternoon prep and then finish when we get home prep. :scared: A lot starts at grocery shopping...... I come home and prepare the meat (cut up chicken for nuggets, marinate meat, portion out hamburger meat for meals, make patties, get veggies ready, put ingredients together for meals so they are easy to grab and go...... Meals take time...... you either stand in the kitchen and do it one meal at time (30 mins to an hour) or divide it up and do bits along and along.... Meal making really does kinda suck most days :svengo: How in the crap our grandmothers found time to cook 47 side dishes , a couple of pies, several cakes, and biscuits breakfast, lunch, and dinner every freaking day, I'll never know.

I'm surprised that ambulances wouldn't have epi on board. It is one the of cheapest meds out there and is a main line drug in ACLS cardiac arrest logarithm (national training program used by everyone in medical pretty much). I would think an ambulance would have that onboard and know how to use it. It is a life saving drug and not just for allergies. cardiac arrest and other conditions are given epi as standard course. I wonder if it is different state to state as to what EMT can give. i always thought that was pretty standard and had federal oversight. (dont' know why I thought that) I'm surprised by the number of people who report they have to use their personally owned second one. I'm at the hospital or 911 is here by the time I need more doses. That's scary to think that many people are not close enough to a medical facility or have a robust 911 service around. You would think in that case, ambulances (emt) would be more even more capable/allowed/required/trained/stocked to handle life threatening emergencies of any kind. They are the front line. Epi comes in several modes. You can have it in ampule that you break open, pull up into a syringe and inject (code cart is this way) or you can have it in a cartridge that you pop onto the delivery device and inject( some code carts have this). and then you have the auto injectors. So a refillable method shouldn't be hard to create. Though this thread has depressed me a little to think that so many feel the general public can't pop a top and stab somebody in the leg. My life depended on the general public knowing to recognize a red tin, pop it open, fill it and inject it. I don't remember my mom being freaked out about that. Maybe she was. I know everyone I ran into knew how to inject me. Even my friends knew how.

I have no idea about the insurance price as I always had to pay out of pocket. Insurance never covered it. As an adult, I didn't have insurance most of the time so I don't know when insurance began covering epipens. But, they were affordable so it didn't matter.

Epipen Makers are crap in my book. I have had one most of my life. I started way back in the day when "epi pen" was two syringes and two bottles of epinephrine in a little red tin case. And yea, teachers knew how to use it. They can get a BA degree, they have the smarts to pull up a drug and inject into a body. So everyone at the school knew how to use it. This was mid 70's. Somewhere around late 70's first of 80, I was given my very first Epi pen. Taught how to use it and then taught the school to use it. And it wasn't cheap. Around 50 which was a lot! Sticker shock for my mom but necessary. One year in middle school, the school said they could only use EPi pen brand so don't bring any other. Some bunk about laws had been changed and only Epi pens were now allowed. In my teens, late 80s, I know 100% sure 1 and only 1 Epipen was round 60 dollars. I paid 60 bucks for ONE every year until I was in my 30's (2009-2010) and going camping. Could not buy 1 Epi but had to buy two. MAD as hell and I mean mad as hell. Fought, pitched a fit, and finally broke down and bought the two damn epipens for 130.00 that i didn't have so I could go camping and not die from a bee sting. Why do you need to buy two? If you want two, great. But why must you have two???? Especially since I had bought ONE for years and years. NEVER BOUGHT ANOTHER ONE. I kept those two epi pens long past expiration date and reduced my risk of bee stings as much as I could. Lucky enough, I have a few minutes from bee sting to throat closing and can make it to the hospital before blacking out. As I refuse to buy another EPipen. When they required you to buy two, that's when I knew they were just out for profit. Now....that's all this is. Pure greed due to so many little kids needing one and so many schools insisting on only Epipen brand. You can still buy just a vial of Epi and buy a syringe. Not ideal but it is what we did before EpiPen came out. Sure it is not an universal delivery system but if the country needs a universal delivery system, then it has to be affordable. much like AEDs have come down in price as more people have put them into the first aid stations. Drugs might change price but the technology of delivery should get cheaper over time. Makers of Epi pen make me sick and have for a very long time.

Eczema due to gluten/Celiac. (honestly it may not be ecezema if it is the same on both sides of the body - that can be dermatitis herpetiformis often mislabeled as eczema or psoriasis) I treated my daughter by coating her every night in mayo - full fat. If I remember it was a couple of weeks. let it sit on her for 10 - 30 minutes and then washed her off with mild full fat goat soap. Got the diet under strict control. NO gluten, no dairy, no anything that the mimics gluten in the body. Applied Vaseline to all the raw or soon to be raw spots. it did go away. Hers never returned except when my hubby lost his mind and used dryer sheets in her laundry. Child can not use dryer sheets! Mine has been a little worse. I haven't been strict with the diet and flare ups happen. They just take forever to heal. I use coconut oil every night and apply avocado or grapeseed oil every morning. This has kept the rest of my skin from being dry in the first place and helped heal up the areas. I have applied tea tree oil to the worst spots to keep infection and fungal infections from starting. I am now nearly spot free. (it has taken 5 years along with a strict diet of no gluten, no dairy, and absolutely no sugar at all, that part i started a few months ago to see if it made a difference) The last areas begin to heal and disappear. I also did a week of beach therapy. I stayed in salt water for hours (4-5 a day) at the beach and noticed within that week that my 2 last worst spots improved, almost over night it seemed. I have since added in a Dead sea salt soak to those areas every day. So combination approaches. I think for me tightening up my diet, applying full fat oils and eating more full fat along with salt soaks has finally turned the corner for me. But if the areas are pretty much the same on both sides of the body, I would consider a skin manifestation of Celiac and see if I could get her in to a dermatologist who knows how to biopsy for that and see if that is the root cause.

I've watched kids grow up who had meltdowns ( I know they couldn't help it and still can't and need help, not blaming just stating they are meltdown prone for various reasons) but now they are adults. The meltdowns are still there. Just in a big body. I'm watching a friend's child go through this. He's now heading into adulthood. No amount of work has ever changed the shrill outrage and disgust over any and all changes that go against him. Him on a plane with a screaming child.......Major adult meltdown with him pacing up and down in extreme agitation ...... I had a 40 ish year old woman in a high stress competitive school program years ago. She had giant (she was a tall big boned gal) meltdowns including screaming and stomping her feet and tearing shit up meltdowns. She seemed normal enough until anything challenging went against her. Then oh boy ...watch out. I dont' have anything to say I reckon. I don't know what the solutions are but can imagine that we will see and hear more stuff like this. Adults that can''t and never have been able to handle challenges and kids who can't either. Put the two together in their bad moments and.......... Grace has to be extended to both. Neither have adult control.

Every. time. he. wants. Please remember you don't have typical sibling bond. My hubby considers his steps as nothing more than temporary. The relationship only exists because of a legal agreement between his parent and their spouse. He has no desire to be their friends, know their families, or be involved in anyway with them. If your son feels that way, forcing won't make it better.

It is hard to do the same work as others when you are following your own path. It's hard to compare apples to oranges. If your child has been prepared as an apple and compared to apples, then and only then could anyone say he was behind. But preparing an orange and then failing him because he can't be an apple is what happened to your kid. Years ago, I had to accept that homeschooling on our path would often - especially in the early years- put us all around the school kids. Ahead in some, behind in others, side by side in others but never ever on the same path at the same time. Seek the freedom that accepting this gives to your school journey. Your kids will never ever match their peers exactly. Educate them. For many years, we worked on reading, math and basic sentence structure. History and Science was go to the library and pick out books from each section. Go home, read the books, define the words, let your children find joy in learning and teach them the value of learning just to learn ...just because. Teach them to be successful, to be good citizens, to be educated, to be happy.......to find their own way. So much more useful than writing 1-100 .

All the older kids here are everywhere!!! Pokemon GO has people all over the place. We went out to eat and the waiters were asking what pokemons were being caught and you could see various older teens waving around phones and such. They have been out riding to places to walk around and catch them all! :)